It is said that a springe of somewhat similar
construction was used for pheasants. Horsehair nooses are still applied
for capturing woodpeckers and the owls that spend the day in hollow
trees, being set round the hole by which they leave the tree. A more
delicate horsehair noose is sometimes set for finches and small birds. I
tried it for bullfinches, but did not succeed from lack of the dexterity
required. The modes of using bird-lime were numerous, and many of them
are in use for taking song-birds.
But the enclosure of open lands, the strict definition of footpaths,
closer cultivation, and the increased value of game have so checked the
poacher's operations with nets that in many districts the net may be
said to be extinct. It is no longer necessary to bush the stubbles
immediately after reaping. Brambles are said to have been the best for
hindering the net, which frequently swept away an entire covey, old
birds and young together. Stubbles are now so short that no birds will
lie in them, and the net would not be successful there if it were tried.
The net used to be so favourite an 'engine' because partridges and
pheasants will run rather than fly. In the case of partridges the
poacher had first to ascertain the haunt of the covey, which he could do
by looking for where they roost at night: the spot is often worn almost
bare of grass and easily found.
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